The American Trucking Associations' Board of Directors Tuesday unanimously endorsed an energy resolution outlining the organization's efforts to combat escalating fuel prices and help shape a comprehensive national energy plan.

The resolution, sanctioned by the board members at ATA's annual Management Conference and Exhibition in Boston, calls for increasing the diesel fuel supply; improving the balance between environmental concerns and fuel efficiency; eliminating boutique diesel fuels; and endorsing the limited use of biodiesel as part of the national diesel fuel standard.
“Given the trucking industry's reliance on available and affordable diesel fuel to move America's goods and products, we urge the government to act quickly and strongly on our suggested initiatives,” ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said. “Our current economic conditions require strong actions as part of a comprehensive national energy plan that enables us to deliver America's goods. The national economy depends upon a healthy and viable trucking industry.”
For years, the United States has under-invested in domestic refining capacity, increasing U.S. dependency on foreign sources of crude oil and refined petroleum products. This occurred despite the fact that U.S. oil refiners operated at near full capacity. At the same time, fuel prices spikes have been more extreme than necessary because the lack of a single nation diesel fuel standard generates regional price disparities and heightens localized supply shortages.
Rising fuel costs are hitting the trucking industry at a time when it is adopting new engine technology designed to meet reduced emission standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency and transitioning to ultra low sulfur diesel fuel. These new engines are expected to be less fuel efficient, burning more diesel, in turn increasing motor carrier operating costs.
Few industries feel the impact of rising fuel costs more directly than trucking. Commercial trucks consume 50 billion gallons of fuel each year. Of that, about 35 billion gallons is diesel. At current prices, the trucking industry is projected to pay a record $85 billion for diesel fuel this year, a record $23 billion more than in 2004.
An uninterrupted fuel supply is essential to meet the nation's transportation needs and prevent an economic collapse. The trucking industry serves as the lynchpin of the U.S. economy, employing more than 8 million individuals and accounting for 88 percent of the nation's freight bill. More than 500,000 motor carriers in the United States transport nearly 70 percent of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation.